Herefordshire Council today (Monday 4 July) launches a scheme to encourage more people to get involved in repair cafés.
If you enjoy mending old toasters, renovating radios or stitching and fixing old shirts, then running a repair café may be just what you’ve been waiting for.
With new funding available, there is no better time to get involved in a project that’s good for your community and good for our planet.
What are repair cafés?
Repair cafés are places to meet, fix things and chat with other like-minded people who would rather repair an item than put it in the bin or take it to a local recycling centre. Find out more about them here: repaircafe.org/en/about.
Repair cafés are run by dedicated volunteers who enjoy helping their community. If you don’t want to run one but have the skills to volunteer at a local repair café, please email
recycling@herefordshire.gov.uk.
Funding available
The scheme is open to applications from formally constituted, non-profit groups and organisations wholly based in Herefordshire. City, town and parish councils are also eligible to apply.
Those who make a successful application could get up to £2500 in funding. That can be used to hire a venue, help towards a membership scheme, pay for insurance, tools, training and promotions. The council funding – earmarked for trial projects to reduce waste – can be used to start a new repair café or expand an existing one. The closing date for applications is Friday 12 August 2022 and more information can be found at herefordshire.gov.uk/repair.
Councillor Gemma Davies, cabinet member for commissioning, procurement and assets, says:
“Repair cafés are fabulous. They bring people together. They provide opportunities for skills sharing. And, more broadly, they’re another step towards helping our planet. It’s sad that we’ve sleepwalked into becoming a throwaway society. Repair cafés can help us reverse the trend of tossing goods away that, with very little effort, could have years of life left in them. I’d love to see repair cafes popping up all over Herefordshire so everyone living here or visiting the county can benefit from them."
See further details on our webpage.
Visit Community Repair Network to find out more on what it means to run a repair cafe.